George D. McKinney
Bishop George Dallas McKinney (born August 9,1932) is a bishop and General Board Member of the Church of God in Christ. He is a very prolific author and a very learned theologian, skilled in Mainstream Christian and Pentecostal Chrisian Theology. Biographic Sketch Bishop George Dallas McKinney was born August 9, 1932 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Bishop McKinney is a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Arkansas and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Arkansas State College where he received a B.A. degree. He studied social work at the University of Michigan, graduate School of Social Work. He received his M.A. degree from Oberlin College, School of Theology in Ohio and a Ph. D. from California Graduate School of College in Glendale, California, and received an honorary D.D. from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Bishop McKinney is the founder and pastor of St. Stephen's Cathedral COGIC which he founded in 1962 along with his late wife Dr. Jean C. McKinney. Since 1985, Bishop McKinney has served as Jurisdictional Prelate of Southern California Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ. In November 2001, he was elevated to the General Board (the presidium) of the Church of God in Christ, Inc. A former probation officer is a renowned licensed Marriage, Family and Child Counselor, and authored Christian Marriage which provide an overview of marriage as a covenant relationship between man, woman and God and basic information regarding Biblical principles that will strengthen the marriage bond. Bishop McKinney is internationally known for his dynamic preaching and teaching ministry, which places him in constant demand as a conference convention speaker. Bishop McKinney is the author of eight books and has contributed to many more. He served as the senior editor for the African American Devotional Bible, published by Zondervan in April 1997.His literary contributions include The riveting New Slave Masters published by Cook Communications in 2005 and the best selling-book entitled Cross the Line: Reclaiming the Inner City for God, which he co-authored with William Kritlow in 1998. In this book, Bishop McKinney compares the inner city with Ninevah and challenges the modern day Jonahs to turn their time and talents toward the troubles inner city. With three decades of ministry in San Diego, McKinney presents church leaders and lay people with illustrations of how God is blessing the inner city and shows you how to safely and effectively cross racial lines and social lines to minister and learn from real people in the city. He has received numerous honors in the field of religion and community service. In 1995, the San Diego Rotary Club named Bishop McKinney, "Mr. San Diego." On March 7, 2001 the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), presented Bishop McKinney with a Racial Reconciliation Man of the Year Award and in 2007 The Shelter Island Rotary presented him with The Peace Maker Award in recognition of all the work he has done for many years in the area of racial unity. Bishop McKinney is the proud parent of 5 sons, by Jean, his late first wife of more than 45 years, the grandparent of 15, and last year (August, 2008) was married to Attorney Barbara (BJ) Warren. Sister Barbara McKinney has been warmly received by the congregation of St. Stephens and is now actively involved in the life of the local Church and the Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ with her husband. Controversial Issues In 2009, Bishop McKinney came under much criticism for accepting a former Caucasian Klu Klux Klan member named Johnny Lee Clary into the congregation of St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Southern California Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, after Clary claimed to had given up his "conceited ways and evil wayward thinking, and turned his life over to Jesus Christ after he repented of his sins." Bishop McKinney then released a statement to the local California media and the COGIC denomination saying Clary had officially gotten saved and in 2010, he "received the baptism and the power of the Holy Ghost." Also in 2011, Bishop McKinney said that Clary told him he believed it was God who was calling him to preach the gospel, and so Bishop McKinney ordained him as a minister in the Church of God in Christ. In response to all the criticism he received over the course of those two years Bishop McKinney said, "I believe God is using Elder Clary like he did the Apostle Paul in the Biblical book of Acts. God has called him to the ministry, has saved him, has filled him with the Holy Ghost, and I believe God has ordained him to be a true preacher of the Gospel and an effective witness of the power and the word of God, and most importantly the mercy and the grace of God." Category:General Board Members